The device features an Integrated Reclocker with an internal VCO and a wide Input Jitter Tolerance (IJT) of 0.7UI. A serial digital loop through output is provided, which can be configured to output either reclocked or non-reclocked serial digital data. The Serial Digital Output can be connected to an external Cable Driver.

The device operates in one of four basic modes: SMPTE mode, DVB-ASI mode, Data-Through mode or Standby mode.

In SMPTE mode, the GS2961 performs SMPTE de-scrambling and NRZI to NRZ decoding and word alignment. Line-based CRC errors, line number errors, TRS errors and ancillary data check sum errors can all be detected. The GS2961A also provides ancillary data extraction. The entire ancillary data packet is extracted, and written to host-accessible registers. Other processing functions include H:V:F timing extraction, Luma and Chroma ancillary data indication, video standard detection, and SMPTE 352M packet detection and decoding. All of the processing features are optional, and may be enabled or disabled via the Host Interface.